The holiday season is in full swing, and while everybody is talking about what they’re getting for the holidays, I can’t help but to think about the upcoming new year.
The new year brings time for self reflection and high hopes for the upcoming year. One month ago I turned 36. While I consider myself young still, I’ve learned that in the last 10 years I’ve not only physically aged, but emotionally as well. Instead of a resolution, I like to think about the upcoming year in terms of reflections.
Some Reflections:
Embracing My Age
In the craziness of social media and falsified images, it’s not unusual to have moments of insecurity. I’ve learned to follow people who inspire me. People who don’t use social media as an avenue to brag, but more as a place to share and inspire. As a chick in Chicks and Salsa I try my level best to do just that.
Do something today that your future self will thank you for.
Quality Over Quantity
Back in high school popularity was defined by the number of friends you had and the number of people who were dying to be added to that list. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that focusing on my family and small group of good friends is where I am needed and desired most. My friendships are with those that I learn from, admire, and look up to. These friends bring me up and help me continue to see the glass half full.
Slowing Down
I used often hear veteran mothers is tell me that my kids will be grown before I know it. I couldn’t agree more now, I have no idea where last 8 years have gone! I have two children, one 8 year old daughter and one 6 year old son. Every day on the way to school, the kids and I talk about the day ahead. In doing that, week after week, 8 years have quickly passed. I want to focus on slowing down…try not to fill our schedules with too many social obligations that we “should” do. Life is short and tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, so I want to make this one life count and make all the relationships I have around me meaningful.
Diet and exercise are always a part of my New Year’s reflections, duh! However, personally, I’ve learned that my relationships with others are what help me get up in the morning. I want to focus on being a good person and allowing good energy to flow around me.
This is our top pick (pun intended!) As a regular flosser I was FLOORED when I tried this water flosser for the first time. It like a massager for your gums and gets your mouth feeling cleaner than ever before! This is a great gift and a steal for under $60! (Warning: its smaller and louder than I thought it would be, but totally worth it!)
My husband has been using this set for over two years now, every year I get him a new handle and this gift set for $25 is just perfect. He loves the razors and the convenience of a subscription. Check it out!
For $15 there is no excuse for stray eyebrow (or nose) hairs! Help him keep it all together with this compact grooming kit. Believe me you will end up using it too!
Garment bags can be sloppy oversized and hard to carry! Not this one!! The bag literally rolls up into a duffel making it easy to carry and use. Personalize this for $80 and get this for the man who wears a suit in your life.
This is the second time we are featuring this product in a gift guide because it is that good! After a long day at work, this massager sits nicely on a pillow and is a great way to wind down at the end of the day!
I hope you found this list helpful. The guys can be hard to shop for but not getting anything doesn’t feel right either.
Honestly, this whole diet was about one thing and one thing only –belly fat! A few years ago I had gone through several cycles of Cool Sculpting. Cool Sculpting promises to “freeze away” about 20% of existing fat cells in common areas of accumulation (like the abdomen). Although I can endorse that I did see a moderate amount of tightening around my mid section, I am 100% confident that was the only improvement that I noticed. There are also a few other reasons I WOULD NOT do it again: first, the weeks of numbness that come after getting each section treated — so uncomfortable; second, the cost – each section can cost between $350-$600. Considering that multiple sections and sessions are needed, the total cost can add up fast! — I digress.
This is where the Keto Diet comes in. With so much hype surrounding the diet I had to try it for myself. After my experience with Cool Sculpting, I had to see if there was a cheaper, easier, and more effective way to lose the belly fat. It turns out Keto is the answer, BUT its not all good news here. So here it is – the good, the bad, and … the before and after pictures.
The Diet
In a nutshell, the Ketogenic diet is one that involves an intake of moderate proteins, high fat, and low carbs. When I say low carb and high fat, I am not kidding – you have to eat less than 25g of carbs a day and 80% of your calories each day have to come from fat (only 20% from protein). The idea is to use fat for energy instead of carbs which is what makes this diet work.
Carbs are everywhere (5g per spoon of ketchup, 23g in a banana, 13g in a glass of milk) and frankly, it is madness once you start looking at it. I have a daughter with Type 1 Diabetes, so counting carbs is not new to me but, as the kids say, “WOOOOOOW”.
The Good
The Ketogenic Diet has many benefits from a day-to-day lifestyle perspective. For one, you are NEVER hungry on this diet. Not once did I go to sleep hungry on Keto, which was a notable difference considering every night I dream of raiding my cereal cabinet. Something about the amount of fat and protein just keeps you satiated.
In my everyday life, I experience fatigue right around the time I have to go pick up my kids from school at 3pm. I start yawning, dreaming about coffee or a nap. For the entire duration of this diet I felt more energetic throughout the day. It is crazy when you do something literally *every single day* (like get tired in car line) and then one day you just don’t feel as tired. I had Keto to thank for that.
I was on my top of my game! Part of not being tired means getting stuff done and, boy, did I hustle. I worked, and worked, and worked without batting an eyelash or complaining.
Keto Coffee, or Bulletproof Coffee, is actually REALLY good!
Lastly I lost 5 lbs in 4 weeks which may not sound like much, but when your weight has been stable for YEARS, it feels like a real breakthrough. I had begun to wonder if it was even possible – those last five pounds. And now that I have an idea of the process, I think I could lose even more weight if I tried to do this again.
So… all of this sounds pretty great right?!?!
The Bad
After 4 weeks, I felt deprived. I am part of Chicks And Salsa after all – chips and salsa are literally my favorite food and I did not eat even ONE CHIP for a month! I missed bananas, cereal, and pizza! At first, binge eating my favorite cheeses and tons of avocado felt great. But then it got boring – fast! It was easier for me to just have a list of go-to foods and rely on those (I will list some below for reference). Also, eating enough fat to really rock this diet is SO HARD – there are literally recipes for ‘fat bombs’ to help you get
there that are loaded with butter and cheese — and honestly, this felt a little odd.
My husband did accuse me of being cranky every now and then. I felt like there had to be another way when the month was over. Food is just one of those things that bring people so much joy, without it I enjoyed less.
The Takeaway
This is a tough call and to tell you the truth I would probably do it again. Maybe there is a way to do it for 3 weeks, take a week off, do it for 3 weeks, take a week off – that would be ideal. But it is an extreme diet that requires a lot of management, planning, organization, and attention. I felt deprived so I quit, but within 48 hours of going back to my normal diet I was back to yawing in carline and feeling bloated. Carbs do slow you down and knowing what that magic carbohydrate number is for you is important for a long term true lifestyle change. I can’t imagine doing this indefinitely but with the results that you get, I would definitely do it leading up to a major life event or vacation.
My Menu
Here are a few things I lived off of for the month:
Lunch: Low Carb BLT (Low Carb Tortilla, Mayo, Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Turkey Bacon), Salads with Ranch Dressing and Hard Boiled Eggs, Grilled Chicken Strips dipped in Ranch, Cheese Chips and Guacamole.
Snacks: Dannon Light and Fit Yogurt with 2 oz. Pecans, 14 Blueberries with Whip Cream, Almonds, Cheese Chips from Trader Joes, Cheese Slices from the deli, Edamame, Muscle Milk, Asparagus spears, Water (lots of water!)
I hope you found this post to be helpful if you are considering the Keto Diet. There are so many good AND bad things about it. Like anything else in life, I think it comes back to moderation and mindfulness. Exercise, drink lots of water, be kind to your body, and eat as clean as possible. But if belly fat is what is getting you down – try the Keto diet and see how you do!
Cheers,
Rina
NOTE: At the time of this post I have been off of Keto for 2 weeks and have only re-gained one of the five pounds that I lost – I have transitioned mostly to an intermittent fasting model. Let me know in the comments below if you want to hear my take on that!
As moms we often exchange notes, and when it comes to gift giving we are always curious about what each other’s kids are into. So here is what is on my kids list and what I am getting my nieces and nephews and also my friends kids. Everything on this list excites the kids and I so I am counting down the days to Christmas morning.
I have seen that boys and girls alike love the adventures of Dogman – its comic book layout makes it super kid friendly. With age appropriate humor and a few life lesson sprinkled in there its a win for parents too.
This is my daughter, Maya’s, top pick this year. My girls cannot resist a claw machine when we are out and about so the thought of having one at home is just so exciting for them, I can’t wait to see her face when she opens this.
This is the second year in a row I am getting these for family and friends, after getting this last year and using it for science and art projects, this gift proved to be useful AND fun!!
A gift with education mixed in with fun is my kind of gift. My daughters are in second and third grade and they are starting to explore circuits. In an effort to explore engineering concepts for every things like alarm systems to radios, this advanced ‘toy’ is safe and has easy to follow project instructions. Sonia introduced me to this one and I can’t say enough about how good this set is!
Literally EVERY SINGLE PARENT of girls ages 4-8 will be buying these this year. Something about collectibles that gets us every time! This year it is LOL Dolls and not knowing which one is inside this box is what gets kids super excited – so scoop of one of these for your daughter or niece and win at life.
My girls have started ‘taking care’ of things which is weird (lol). They also have taken an interest in their accessories. So it seemed like a good idea to get them a ‘grown up’ jewelry box with a few new earrings too.
Ugh, the gift parents love to hate! I wrote about this set in particular in my family gift guide because it is different. It comes with PRE MIXED / NON STICKY slime but with tons of mixers , kids don’t even miss making the slime themselves. We absolutely loved this set– no glue means no ‘ick.’ You are welcome.
From My Family To Yours,
Happy Holidays,
Rina
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